Inside the NAR Settlement and Commission Changes Affecting Las Vegas Realtors

Ever wondered why the bustling Las Vegas housing market is showing a curious dip in sales despite a steady inventory? This week on Vegas Realty Check, Trish Williams and Tiana Carol peel back the layers of this enigma and take a deep dive into the local real estate pulse. With a spotlight on a steady 3,306 active family homes and a mere 395 sales, we're deciphering the disconnect and its implications on your property dreams. Add to that the latest Federal Reserve interest rate predictions and the Hollywood West mega studio's approval, and you've got a whirlwind of factors that could shape the future of our community.

Think real estate commissions are straightforward? Think again. The landscape is changing, and we're here to expertly guide you through the tumultuous terrain of class action lawsuits and commission practices. As realtors brace for the impact of new mandates set for July 2024, we analyze how these legal shake-ups protect clients and agents alike. Listen as we unravel the complexities of buyer brokerage agreements and dispel the myths surrounding commission structures. This conversation is crucial for anyone looking to navigate the real estate market with confidence and clarity.

Finally, amidst the buzz of a hefty settlement by the National Association of Realtors, we champion the irreplaceable value realtors bring to the table. This episode goes beyond the surface to celebrate the emotional support, expertise, and sheer dedication that real estate professionals provide—qualities that simply can't be replicated by iBuying platforms or cold contracts. We spotlight the human element that is critical to the home-buying journey and address the real-world challenges that come with innovative selling models. Plus, stay tuned for our promise to divulge the comprehensive list of realtor duties next week, underscoring our unwavering commitment to transparency and earning every ounce of our clients' trust.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:16

Hey, Las Vegas. Thanks for joining us back here on Vegas Realty. Check your local Las Vegas real estate news show. I am Trish Williams and I'm Tiana Carol. Welcome back, guys. Yeah, Today's show we're going to be talking about a lot of news.

Speaker 2: 0:31

Yeah, so last Thursday we left and it was all great. And then Sunday morning I mean Friday morning we woke up and the sky fell. That's what some people feel like it happened. But before we talk about any of the stuff, they and this is all having to do with the NAR lawsuit- yeah, so you've been seeing a lot of stuff everywhere.

Speaker 1: 0:51

There's a lot of misinformation out there, unfortunately. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 0:55

I think, well, we'll get into it. I'll tell you all about what I think in a minute, but before we do that, every Thursday morning we're here and we're talking about local Las Vegas real estate news and numbers. So let's start with the new. I mean the numbers.

Speaker 1: 1:09

Yes, so active is 3306. Yeah, family homes on the market. That inventory number is not getting any higher.

Speaker 2: 1:19

No, it seems pretty stagnant in that 3,300 block, yeah, and last go ahead. I mean it's okay. Right, it's spring, it's spring. It feels more active than a sold 395, doesn't it?

Speaker 1: 1:35

Yes, it does. I seen that number and thought it was a little bit low for what we've got going on. But you know the Fed, they, you know they up and down, up and down Well they met again they're doing their thing.

Speaker 1: 1:48

In their meeting they said we're going to postpone this till tomorrow. And then they met again and then they said no changes, no changes to the rates. So now, like Fannie Mae people and stuff like that that have their like economists that, like you know, think they have a crystal wall or whatnot, are saying that they don't think rates are going to get below 6% this year. Earlier in the year and last year they were thinking that they would.

Speaker 2: 2:12

Yeah, they were thinking we're going to get down to about five.

Speaker 1: 2:15

Yeah, so we will see, and we still have the rest of the year to play out, so things change as we know things change rapidly and this is such a crazy year.

Speaker 2: 2:25

It's a crazy year, I mean, not like the past three years weren't crazy, but oh yeah, different kind of crazy, but we're still doing crazy.

Speaker 1: 2:32

They're like hey, real estate seems a little bit normal right now. Let's throw a wrench in it.

Speaker 2: 2:37

So right, exactly, exactly. That's the life we live out here so well our little neck of the woods here in Vegas is desirable and people continue to move here and businesses continue to move here. Matter of fact, yesterday it was approved the site for the Hollywood West. Yes, yeah. So the Howard Hughes Corporation and Sony through Mark Wahlberg I guess he's facilitating the whole deal is building a mega studio out there at 215 and town center. So by that, rc Willy out there, okay, yep.

Speaker 1: 3:15

I thought it was by the IKEA, so it's by the RC Willy.

Speaker 2: 3:18

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 3:18

Wrong furniture store guys Right.

Speaker 2: 3:21

It's by the furniture store. Which one? Yeah, so it's over off of the 215 by the RC Willy, all that vacant land over there. So it's right there outside of Summerlin. Yeah, well, I guess that's technically in Summerlin.

Speaker 2: 3:34

Yeah, and that's going to be exciting and bring more people, more people here more people, more business and you know there's a lot of things, like when they bring in Netflix movies. Those actors and actresses are going to need temporary housing. So those luxury homes are going to be up for rent for temporary housing and homes will be used for sets.

Speaker 1: 3:59

Yeah, and how many more potential actresses and actors are we going to meet now?

Speaker 2: 4:06

because you know there's going to be a lot of money. Yeah, we made a lot, which is kind of cool.

Speaker 1: 4:11

No, people that are like you know, like you know waitress, like in California you know, it's like every waitress is like trying to be a passenger.

Speaker 2: 4:17

Oh, okay, so not a celebrity, no, not a celebrity.

Speaker 1: 4:20

I'm talking about people that want to, they're aspiring to.

Speaker 2: 4:22

So every aspiring actors and singers, they're all going to be like I'm an actress.

Speaker 1: 4:27

We're going to see a lot more of those now.

Speaker 2: 4:29

Well, for the record, I'm an actress, yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:31

Yeah me too. Yeah Me too. Have you ever seen me try to read a script? It doesn't.

Speaker 2: 4:36

It's not good, that's why we're unscripted on this show. Yeah, it's not happening. You got the whole deer in the headlights teleprompter, look what it happens.

Speaker 1: 4:45

I'm like what did that say? No, it's not, that's not me.

Speaker 2: 4:49

That's not my gig.

Speaker 1: 4:50

Yeah, I'm more of a freelance. I could do reality TV all day. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:57

Yep, you certainly can. You'll sit here and talk about real estate all day. So that's what we're going to do today. Oh, we didn't even finish the numbers?

Speaker 1: 5:04

Yeah, so we had 335 price reductions.

Speaker 2: 5:07

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 5:08

And the under contract numbers looked good.

Speaker 2: 5:11

Yeah, the under contract numbers look good. It's a little bit skewed because of the timeframe. Everything else we do is, like you know what's active on the market today, what sold this last week and was reduced this last week. But under contracts can take a while before they close off, so that number looks fat 694, but it's not that fat.

Speaker 1: 5:28

Yeah, yeah. So, um, yeah, and half of that is like what's sold Well a little more than half.

Speaker 2: 5:34

Yeah, half of that will be like what's closing, yeah. So, um, so yeah, nothing exciting in the numbers, but, like we said, friday we woke up to an email that was a little exciting, oh well, yeah, lots of people got their blood rushing when they read it.

Speaker 1: 5:48

You know what Um I'm just going to like voice my frustrations right now. You know what made me so angry about that is it was a memo. Like you don't just like send a memo out and say, like your life's changing. Like, actually, if you're a corporation, that's usually how it happens. I guess I know, I know and then I'm like what do I want them to call me individually? Right, this is the president of the NAR, is this Trish?

Speaker 2: 6:14

Williams, I just wanted to let you know things are going to be different. Yeah, I was just like insulted by the I don't know.

Speaker 1: 6:19

I was. I just felt like I don't know. I felt insulted by the memo.

Speaker 2: 6:22

Okay, well, I'm not a morning person, so I don't read my emails in the morning. I know that's people's normal right Wake up, have their coffee, read their email, do their thing. But I don't want that part of my life, I don't want that part of my life to creep into my life until later. So that morning I was at the LVR for the general session and they talked about it at the general session, so that was the first I heard about. So you didn't get the memo.

Speaker 1: 6:53

I did not get the memo.

Speaker 2: 6:55

Literally, I did not get. I mean, I received the memo. I just did not get the memo until after I had already been to the general session. I had talked to, like, the president of LVR, I had talked to all of the agents that were there for the event. We had seen a video that was released from NAR which did not come over.

Speaker 2: 7:14

It was not in the memo, no, it was not in the memo, but we got to watch the video and talk about and they gave us a fact sheet and said you know, more information is coming and I'm sure that would have been a lot more digestible than, like you know, what I read.

Speaker 1: 7:28

It was like everything's changing Come July, have a nice day. And I think the end of it said like we know, you're resilient and you'll make it through. Yeah, what does he?

Speaker 2: 7:36

do. You did a great job. Here's a gold star.

Speaker 1: 7:39

Yeah, like it was, so I don't, but yes, if that would have been the yeah.

Speaker 2: 7:45

For me it was easily digestible. When I woke up, I you know, when I walked into the general session you know I was just starting my day and everybody was like did you get the memo? Did you see what happened? And I'm like, yeah, what's going on? What do you, how do you feel about it? And then they started talking. I was like, oh so there's some sort of settlement agreement coming in, and that's what. This is right, yeah.

Speaker 1: 8:07

So there's been this commission's lawsuit that they're saying was an antitrust violation and it was accusing realtors in AR, a lot of companies of price fixing.

Speaker 2: 8:20

Yeah, we are sort of monopolizing the market, saying that seller, when a agent took a listing and they are selling somebody's home, that part of that compensation was going to be for their representation as the listing agent but also compensation given to one of the other thousands of realtors who is bringing that buyer. And it was always sort of sold Like do you want one person selling your house or do you want everybody selling your house?

Speaker 1: 8:51

Right, I still, I still have so much, I guess, dispute, I feel, with the whole lawsuit litigation because in our world and since I've been in real estate and this is dating back to like what, 21-22, so I know it's during the time that I've been in real estate there's plenty of times that I've seen and I know you've seen too, like on our MLS, where some sellers are offering zero compensation. Yeah, it's nothing new. It's nothing new. So there, maybe you know, maybe there was people out there doing this and not giving the negotiation options or whatnot. I don't know. You know I'm not there at every table with every listing appointment.

Speaker 2: 9:35

I wish I was I sure would like to be Sign me up.

Speaker 1: 9:38

But the thing that angers me is I know that I've always followed the rules and I've always abided by the rules. I know that the rules were taught. I know that they were in our handbooks and, very just, it wasn't even hidden. It was just a very you know, a very firm discussion that they had with us in real estate school about, you know, the fact that commissions are negotiable. So we all were very aware of that and most of us, and I think probably the majority of us, abided by those rules. Yeah, and it's just kind of like to me. It's like Going into and and again, we're gonna get into the fact sheet. So this isn't really like the news is reporting. Commissions are going away.

Speaker 2: 10:23

Like they're houses are gonna drop. Everything's changing real estate all week long. Every headline I saw, I was like rating. I'm like 10 out of 10 clickbait. Yeah, there's nothing factual in that title, but yes, I would click on that to read it.

Speaker 1: 10:36

Yeah so one of them said like, oh, you can buy and sell a house now without commissions. And I'm like um, how are we getting paid? Like, are we all working for free? So it's like, just, you know, that was like okay, so you go, you know you have a job, or you have a career. You studied, you worked, you followed the rules, you did what you were supposed to do, and then someone walks in, you know, and say this was your job. Right, say this was your job. Someone walks in and they say well, someone in this office broke the rules and now all of you guys are having your pay cut and it's because that person broke the rules. Like what? How is that even Fair?

Speaker 2: 11:13

yeah, well, I think from an outside standpoint, and if you're not in the business and see how it works, there'd be some sort of validity. Obviously the whole jury thought there was going to be validity to the story because they ruled against it. So this is a settlement statement.

Speaker 1: 11:29

Yes, so in a yard thought it was in the best benefit to settle this and Some of the other companies that were in the lawsuit settled as well.

Speaker 2: 11:38

Yeah, and it was just every company that was in the law and no is there anybody still holding out?

Speaker 1: 11:43

Yes, so there is one company home oh, what are their home? Something I don't know. They're not popular in Vegas, but there is a. There is one company that is holding out and I guess the, the attorneys and everyone are threatening them that they're gonna have to take the burden of the entire lawsuit If they don't settle. So, yeah, I don't, I don't know. You know what I'm gonna say this. I, I know I was trying not to, but I'm going to. Um, you know what's the art of me?

Speaker 2: 12:16

I love that you had a game plan that you were gonna do and then you're like you know what I'm doing? I'm saying I am saying it. Well, it's your show. Okay, what you want, say what you want.

Speaker 1: 12:26

I said like this whole, this whole you know commissions thing. You know we're saying like, oh, we Uh price-fixed and price-fixed and the commissions are like Taking advantage of consumers. You know they had this whole like, like evil thing that they said we were right, like it was a conspiracy, we all sat in the dark room going.

Speaker 1: 12:45

Yeah, so completely bogus and untrue and they were talking about commissions and percentages of the seller sell prices. But okay, everybody, I I'm sure that most people they're opting into this class action lawsuit to not really. Maybe they don't understand how the whole thing works but at the end of the day they may get like a hundred dollar check, Like was it all worth it for, like what it did to the industry, but also Any settlement, anything like that, where it turns out and you have an attorney, you have representation, you have a class action lawsuit. What percentage do the attorneys take of the consumer's money that I mean?

Speaker 2: 13:30

I know, hey, you can't get on them.

Speaker 1: 13:33

They're doing their job too Well yes, but they're on us for doing our job.

Speaker 2: 13:39

Right, no, I get that, I get that, but in reality, our job should have been, from the jump, to get the buyer brokerage and to have, dare I say, the balls to represent yourself and be like listen, I am going to do a hundred things during this transaction for you. My time is worth compensation. And you know, I don't know, maybe because I'm the buyer's agent, I run my business on a buyer's brokerage, so to me this always makes sense and protects you. Right, it has always protected me. This makes sense. There's never been a buyer that I dealt with that doesn't have a buyer brokerage, for this exact reason because mama wants to get paid.

Speaker 1: 14:20

Yeah, well, and that is one thing. One good thing I've seen of this whole debacle is written agreements. Buyer's brokerage agreements, buyer's contracts are now mandatory. So that's something I think I said years ago when I got into business too. It makes it so challenging for sometimes certain people not all people, like. Luckily, most of the clients I work with are people that already like trust me or connected somehow, so that you know that's easier. But when you don't know somebody and you're meeting with them and you're talking about a buyer's representation agreement, especially if they have like an old school mindset, they're like oh, I'm not signing any contracts, I'm not doing that. And it's always frustrated me that that's even an option or that that was even an option because they could go to another realtor. It says oh, I'll spend all my time with you with no contract and just hope it all works out.

Speaker 2: 15:18

Yeah. So I never bought into that BS. I was like we're gonna do this in writing and I think you know all of it goes back to the foundation that I started with with the licensing to get the real estate license, and then the post licensing. And in Nevada we have the real estate division, which is our governing body, and they have always said they're the ones that will hold us accountable. Right, and they have always said first order of action is get your duty's owed, that establishes agency, and then get your representation contracts in order, whether that's a listing agreement, if you're a list agent, or a buyer brokerage agreement, if you're working with a buyer.

Speaker 2: 15:59

And so if you're taught that in school and you're just moving forward, then this whole thing doesn't seem to make sense. Because I'm like, well, I've always had buyer brokerage. The only difference is now it needs to be enforced in the way, because before we'd get a buyer brokerage and it'd say hey, buyer, you're liable to pay me 3.5% or 3% or 2.5 or whatever. Your fee is right, so you're liable to pay me this amount of money. And then the seller offers a co-op in the MLS and then the buyer doesn't have to pay for it. But in the rare situations that the seller wasn't doing a co-op, then the buyer has to pay for it.

Speaker 1: 16:42

Yes, so that's another part of this settlement. So first part we have to have buyers representation agreements. That's one of the rules of the settlement.

Speaker 2: 16:53

And the settlement's not done yet. The court still has to approve it.

Speaker 1: 16:56

Yes, yes absolutely so to catch everybody up.

Speaker 2: 16:59

I guess we sort of say that the jury found them guilty. Now they're pulling a full on Harvey Specter from suits and doing a class action settlement, and then it has to be approved before we move forward. If it does move forward, all this happens by July of 2024. Yeah, which is just around the corner.

Speaker 1: 17:16

Yep. So written agreements are going to be mandatory, one of the things that is certainly going to change. So say that we have a certain percentage, that we say this is our percentage to represent the buyer. This is in the agreement. So there's sometimes in our history of doing real estate where things like builders may offer bonuses and certain things on top of that, that's no longer allowed Anything above the agreed upon the agreed upon submission. That's in the contract.

Speaker 2: 17:48

Yep, your BBA buyer brokerage agreement.

Speaker 1: 17:50

Yeah, so anything above that would go to the buyer or be forfeited, I guess. But we're not allowed to take any additional compensation other than what's on the agreement.

Speaker 2: 18:00

Right. So if I say do a BBA with you and I do it for 2.5% and I come across somebody who's offering a 3% listing, then they only can give me that 2.5% what my BBA says. There's no bonus money or extra money coming my way.

Speaker 1: 18:16

Yeah, there's no sales bonus, there's no extras, there's no icing on top, and again, that's fine. What you agree to is what you agree to. I mean, I am fine all day with getting my fee. Anytime that there ever has been any type of bonus, it's like yeah, it's a bonus, that's great, but never an expectation.

Speaker 2: 18:31

Right, and never and it's never something that I'm only showing houses that are going bonuses, or I'm only showing houses that are offering me a 3%, or I'm only showing houses. No, I'm showing what is best for my client and if they have to compensate me or I don't get a bonus or whatever. However it works out, it's fine because our job is to represent our clients. Period.

Speaker 1: 18:54

Absolutely, and I've shown homes many of times that weren't offering a co-op. There has been instances for that but it's been around for years and I don't know how they're saying that it wasn't, because I know that was. I've shown homes like that and while I'm there with the buyer inside the home, I say well, remember that buyer's brokerage agreement, how we have to get paid. That means you would have to compensate me if we go forward with this home.

Speaker 2: 19:17

Right, and really this entire lawsuit is just having conversations with your client, which you should be able to do anyway. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 19:28

So compensation offers to buyers agents cannot be on the MLS at all and they cannot be directly to buyer's agents. So the seller could say I'm offering a whatever percent of buyer's concessions and that has to be on the public remark so the buyers can see it as well. That amount may be enough to cover the buyer's agency. However, it can't be solely offered to the buyer's agent. Right, it's an offering of concessions, right?

Speaker 2: 20:05

Yeah, yeah. So the whole thing is kind of like I don't want to say smoke and mirrors because it's not settled yet, but it's kind of smoke and mirrors because they're saying, oh, you can't offer concessions in the MLS anymore, but you can still get concessions.

Speaker 1: 20:18

Well, no, they did. Um, they did have a statement that said that you can offer them on the coops, yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:25

You can't do coops anymore, but you can offer concessions. So it's you know, one for another.

Speaker 1: 20:30

Yeah, well, one thing that we are apparently allowed to do now is, um and in it's always been my understanding we can't negotiate our, our commissions through a offer, a residential purchase agreement, right so um, that don't you know, don't our? My brokers have always said don't ever put that you know anything about that in the residential purchase agreement. That's not a negotiation that's tied to the purchase of the home. Right so um, never have. But now they're saying that that, because it's, it's now a buyer's fee and a buyer's concession that that can be requested in the residential purchase agreement. So that's changed.

Speaker 2: 21:09

That's different. Yeah, instead of from the jump saying, hey, if you bring me a buyer, I'll pay you some money, now it's like hey, I have a buyer, will you pay me some money?

Speaker 1: 21:19

Yeah, yeah. So I and I guess the thing that I'm not clear about, um, and I'm wondering is I'm pretty certain that the way that we take listings now is just for our fee. We're, we're not, we're not taking a listing, negotiating the buyer's fee any longer.

Speaker 2: 21:38

Well, but I do think that listing agents are going to have those conversations, because you have to have expectations during this Well, of course, and set those boundaries. So if we got a buyer who needed a buyer's agent compensation, would you be up to that?

Speaker 2: 21:54

If so what would that look like for you? And just have these conversations? So that way, A, you have a great understanding and you're communicating with your client as a list agent, but me, the buyer's agent, when they present an offer or have those pre offer conversations, sort of know what ballpark they're playing in.

Speaker 1: 22:12

Yeah, and and of course they know it's negotiable because it's going to be part of the offer, right? Um however, the um, like when we take listings. I think we're no longer going out and advocating for that. That, that co-op, because our agreement's going to be solely covering our fee, is what my understanding is. Yeah, Um and again, we are still in the learning process of all this, so that's good, we're still waiting it out and it's not final.

Speaker 2: 22:38

Like I said, this is just the proposed settlement. It still needs court approval. They you know they're shooting for July of 2024, but I've never seen the legal system work that fast, so it may take longer.

Speaker 1: 22:50

Yeah, they might not even have it signed by July 2024. So so our fact sheet, um, and and we did we covered a lot of this, um so they did.

Speaker 2: 23:02

I think all of the uh headlines that I saw were all about the $418 million NAR settlement. $418 million, yeah, but it was a $5 billion suit, so they they did good, yeah, and it's paid over what three?

Speaker 1: 23:20

or four years, Um, yeah, and, and it's um yeah, it was a good settlement. I, um, I still don't think we should have lost it.

Speaker 2: 23:29

Oh, it was $2 billion. Sorry, the release of liability, not $5 billion. So $2 billion was what they were suing for. Now They'll get $418 if this is approved over four years.

Speaker 1: 23:39

Yeah, yeah, and, and, and again it's. Uh, I don't think we should have lost the case in the first place.

Speaker 2: 23:46

Uh, and everybody who's in real estate is going with that, from NAR right down to local agents, that, um, we still are maintaining that.

Speaker 1: 23:56

No, nar did freely set in their in their memo.

Speaker 2: 23:59

They still it's not admitting that these allegations are true.

Speaker 1: 24:02

Yeah, they still, um, they still are holding their statement that they do not believe they did anything wrong, right, um, yeah, so I, um, and and I, I agree with that. I mean again, there's always bad apples, but you can't blame a whole organization.

Speaker 2: 24:20

Yeah Well, I don't know about bad apples. I think that you know, because it was the class. They just didn't like the industry standard and the way we did business, which, in reality, yes, we're going to have to pivot, but a lot of stuff is still going to be the same and the hundreds of jobs that the list agent and the buyer's agent do are still the same jobs.

Speaker 1: 24:41

Oh yeah, our jobs aren't going away, so our like again the news headlines that are saying like, oh, it's going to be so much, um, it's going to be so less, it's not going to be expensive, or it's not going to. And it's not expensive If you, if you did not use a realtor and you decided to use an attorney, what some people think, that that's a you know that's a better choice to use an attorney to facilitate their real estate transaction. If you did not use a realtor and you used an attorney, I can guarantee you you would be paying a higher fee in the end for all the things that we do.

Speaker 2: 25:16

Right and you wouldn't have the emotional management that a realtor gives their clients, yeah, the knowledge, the expertise.

Speaker 1: 25:25

There's a lot of talk and all of this buzz, I guess you would say, about people doing iBuy or platform or you know, like, like, ibuying platforms and all of these like other online services facilitating the home sales. I don't even know how that would look because like, oh, is a robot going to show you homes? Like, how is this going to work? But again, there is. There is so much care and um and management that we do when we're working with our clients. You're not going to get that service or that level of service. I mean, try, try negotiating your home inspection with a call center.

Speaker 2: 26:08

In another country or an AI bot.

Speaker 1: 26:11

Or an AI bot, good luck. I mean, it's it's not for them. And it's so arrogant to me that there's this um group out there that thinks we're so replaceable and they're trying and they've tried different avenues and different ways to try to replace our industry, to try to say we're not worth it, but at the end of the day, I think we are very. We have a lot of value that we offer and in many cases, I think, even more value than what we're charging.

Speaker 2: 26:46

Yeah, so the broker sent out like an email and it had a list of all the different jobs that we do as realtors and we're going to be going over that list on the show here in the future?

Speaker 1: 26:57

Yes, because I do. I thought it was a great list, but it is. It is a good list. Yeah, I heard one of the articles or whatever, speak that we're talking about this, saying that they believe realtors should be paid on an hourly rate. And I was talking with my family about that last night and that when we're on vacation I'm on the phone and I don't go on vacation without my laptop and I don't know.

Speaker 1: 27:26

There's rarely times where I'm like check out off the clock completely and I'm like yeah, I don't think anybody wants to pay an hourly rate to a realtor because that's going to be a time that's just going to. There's a lot more hours. I seen something that said that they said we spend 20 hours average on a transaction and that is the biggest line of BS I have ever heard. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:53

I have to agree with that. Yeah, I have to agree with that because it's highly emotional and people want you to hold their hand because it's a huge transaction. Usually it's people's largest asset. So there's a lot of just dealing with the human aspect of it, Because there's some ways to pivot right. There's ways that they tried it with the what was it called open door, where you could just enter the key code to go into the homes.

Speaker 1: 28:17

Oh yeah, and then there were squatters. There were squatters.

Speaker 2: 28:21

Or people were stealing the appliances, appliances stolen Right, because all you needed was a phone and people were getting burner phones. And they were using the burner phones to grab access, so there was no, I guess, way of tracking them down.

Speaker 1: 28:35

Yeah, there was Z home that was doing that, where every day was an open house you could go in there. But then those went away really quickly because it didn't Well, because it wasn't safe.

Speaker 2: 28:44

I went into one once with clients and there was somebody already in there. I don't know, necessarily they were squatting, but it felt real shady Like as soon as I opened the door. I was like OK, so we'll just wait out here until you're gone.

Speaker 1: 28:56

Yeah, no, it's terrifying. I went into and it was one of the new home builders that does that same model.

Speaker 2: 29:03

There's one of them out there. I know who you're talking about.

Speaker 1: 29:07

But I was in one of their model homes. They have that same kind of like do it yourself.

Speaker 2: 29:12

Direct access. Direct access right Into your phone number.

Speaker 1: 29:16

get a text with the code for the keypad yeah and I went in there I was with clients that had children and upstairs a man and a woman came down like surprised that we were in there rushing and looked like they maybe just threw their clothes back on and I was like this is weird.

Speaker 2: 29:40

I have all the things that can happen in an empty house. Just that would be, I guess, safest. Yeah, but I'd rather have a young couple than some creepy dude waiting to harm me.

Speaker 1: 29:51

But either way, it was like my clients looked at me and their kids and I was like I don't know. Let's hope that wasn't the case. Maybe they were just showing the house and got dressed very quickly when they left the house and showed up. I don't know. Sure, that's it, that's it. It was odd and they brushed out really quickly. So yeah, I was like ha.

Speaker 2: 30:13

Well, this industry has not been shielded from disruptions. Everything from zillows and i-buyers and the self-showing homes and everything they've tried to throw at us and stuff the resilient professionals have learned to pivot and to service their client. I feel bad for this whole thing when it comes to people who are barely scraping by first-time homebuyers, especially in this valley. Our prices are getting high and it's becoming very unaffordable for a service worker and we have a ton of hospitality in this town and some of our locals are having a hard time finding housing and it's just they're squeaking by with the down payment and everything else to have to come over for cost, closing costs and home inspections and appraisals and everything else that they're going to have to pay for during this process, now to tack on a buyer fee on top of that. That's where we, as their representation, are going to show our skill, because we're going to A try and negotiate because, as NAR loves to say, everything's negotiable. Always has been, always will be. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 31:29

And I agree with that when I see I don't see this immediately or even in this market, being a challenging issue, where I see that's going to become a challenge and actually prevent some first time home buyers from buying homes, is in a market that is like what we've seen in 2021, 2022.

Speaker 2: 31:50

Yeah, when they're overpriced and when everything's overpriced people are offering over.

Speaker 1: 31:56

All of those concessions are going to go away and that's going to be the people that have the cash are going to be able to act and the ones that are just barely getting those funds together are going to struggle with trying to get into homes and we've seen that happen to FHA buyers in the market the way it was. Yeah, and that troubles me, and also the VA aspect. So where we're hoping that something comes out with the VA, this is also brand new. So people are scrambling and reorganizing.

Speaker 2: 32:29

Right, and what we're telling you now very well can be different. Like we said, this is still just the settlement offer. It has to have court approval.

Speaker 1: 32:36

Yes, and so in VA loans right now there is a certain percentage that a veteran is allowed to contribute towards the transaction Right. So there is also a limit to the amount of concessions that a veteran can receive.

Speaker 2: 32:52

Well, any buyer there's a limit in less.

Speaker 1: 32:54

Yeah concessions, the limit is lower for a veteran. So, upon talking to a lender In this scenario, whether getting sellers to pay the concessions or not, it may be impossible for veterans. So that is something that is going to have to be looked at Like. Hopefully there's some kind of revision to that or something, and I'm sure there will be changes that change as well as the industry changes once everything is official.

Speaker 2: 33:33

Yeah, and, like I said, it's going to be pivot and there's so many brainstorming sessions that are going around Like how are we going to help these first time home buyers get that compensation and are we going to tack it into the loan? Are there going to be grants available for it? Are there this, are there that? And so it'll be really interesting to see how it all works out in the wash over the coming months and we'll keep you posted. Matter of fact, every Thursday at 9.30 am, we'll be talking about it here on Vegas Realty Check.

Speaker 1: 34:03

Yes, we will, and thank you for tuning in. If you guys are following us, like share and subscribe, go to our link tree at RealtyCheck Vegas and check us out everywhere.

Speaker 2: 34:15

Yeah, and this year we've implemented buyers and seller questions. So if you're a consumer and you just have a question, whether it's regarding this lawsuit or anything to do with real estate, you can make sure and check out the link tree at RealtyCheck Vegas and get us an email over there and we will answer those questions on air.

Speaker 1: 34:35

Yes, we will, and we will be following this. We're also, in a future episode, going to be talking about all the duties of a realtor. We got a list, we have a list.

Speaker 2: 34:46

So if you're wondering what we do, we will tell you yeah, all right and great detail to earn our compensation and loyalty from our great customers. Okay, great customers, we will see you. People who aren't customers yet but just like to join the tribe Thanks for being here and we'll see you next week. Thank you have a good week Vegas Bye, Bye.